As Ji Hyo closed the front gate of her parents’ house after bidding Kim Jong Kook goodbye, she mused about how weird her day had been so far; it had started out so badly but then it started to turn out quite okay (well, if she wanted to be honest with herself, it was actually more than okay, but she didn’t want to jinx the rest of her day away).

“So you borrowed my car to go dating?”

Ji Hyo spun on her heels at the sound of her father’s voice, her hands clutched the front of her shirt. “ Omo! Appa! You startled me!”

“So that Kim Jong Kook of yours couldn’t pick you up but could drive you home? How’s he going to get home now? By taxi? Is he that rich or that stupid?”

“Appa!” Ji Hyo blushed. “It wasn’t a date. And Jong Kook Oppa didn’t drive me home—he only followed me in his car.”

“Right,” He teased, chuckling to see his daughter’s reaction. He put his arm around her shoulders and led her towards the house. “Did you have a good day, child?”

Ji Hyo couldn’t answer immediately, considering not to tell him the truth. But in the end, she replied truthfully, “I’m not sure. I went to see Baek Chang Joo, Appa.” She could feel her father’s eyes on her, could feel the way his hand tightened its grip on her shoulder. She looked up and said dryly, “Let’s just say that if one of these days any of us die under mysterious circumstances, we know who the culprit is.”

The older Cheon didn’t know whether he should cry or laugh in response. Ji Hyo could be very…

“Reckless, I know,” she finished his train of thoughts. “I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted it to be over.”

They stopped once they reached the porch. Soo Kyung motioned Ji Hyo to sit down. “I suspected,” he began. “When you said you needed to borrow my car this morning? I had a hunch that you were going to see him. You had… fire in your eyes, they were resolute—something I haven’t seen in you for months. And yeah, I think I just knew then.”

“You didn’t stop me.”

“I didn’t think you’d go through with it,” he said, running his fingers on his mustache. “Especially when I saw Kim Jong Kook earlier; I thought you changed your mind and went to see him in the end.”

“I didn’t go to see Jong Kook Oppa. Not on purpose, for that matter. I panicked after leaving Chang Joo’s apartment and I…” she halted, embarrassed, “I kind of ended up in Anyang.”

“You kind of ended up in a place about 50 kilometers away from home? And not to mention in the opposite direction, too?”

Ji Hyo’s cheeks grew hot. Now that her father had said it, she realized how ridiculous her explanation must have sounded. “I panicked!”

“Panicked? Yet, instead of driving back here you drove even farther away from home? To a man’s house?” Soo Kyung asked incredulously. “Cheon Seong Im, please never say in public that you inherited that logic of yours from me.”

“Appa!” Ji Hyo swatted her father’s arm, knowing that her father was only joking. “It wasn’t silly when it happened—it only is now because you put it like that.”

He laughed. “Now, even you said it yourself: it’s illogical.” This time he managed to catch Ji Hyo’s wrist before the woman hit him again. He pulled his daughter into his arms and hugged her tightly against his chest. “I’m glad you’re okay, Seong Im-ah. I’m really glad you come home safe.” He mumbled on her hair.

“Me too,” Ji Hyo whispered.

“Did he hurt you?” Soo Kyung released his hold on his daughter and was now raking his eyes to see any signs of violence.

She shook her head, not mentioning the tenderness she felt on her upper back and arms that would surely bruise. “I’m okay. I’m more worried about the woman I left with him there. I hope she’s okay.” Ji Hyo’s eyes grew vacant as she thought about the woman; her heart constricted when she remembered the slightly terrified flash in the woman’s eyes at the scene before her. “She is so, so young,” her voice was hollow. “And I left her with a mad man who was out for blood.” What have I done?

“Seong Im, look at me,” Soo Kyung commanded firmly. He took Ji Hyo’s chin and lifted her face so their eyes were on the same level. “Listen to me: she’s not your problem. Not your responsibility. Look at me! I know that look; you’re blaming yourself again for something you don’t have control of. Like you’re blaming yourself for involving Kim Jong Kook in this matter. Don’t. She was there by her choice—just like Kim Jong Kook decided to be involved.”

“She was fine before I came.”

“And who are you to say for sure that she isn’t still fine now? Stop overthinking.”

She opened to protest and quickly closed it again when Soo Kyung gave her a look. She knew her father was probably right; nobody knew for sure that Baek Chang Joo would hurt that young woman. But the possibility was there, and it didn’t sit right with Ji Hyo. It was simply not in her nature to ignore someone in trouble, let alone if she was the harbinger of said trouble. Guilt was starting to eat her alive.

“I saw Kim Jong Kook earlier. What was he doing here?”

Both Ji Hyo and her father turned their head to find Seong Moon standing at the front door with a scowl on his face and arms crossed at his front. Ji Hyo was beginning to reply but her father beat her to it.

“Yah, Cheon Seong Moon! Is that how you speak to your Noona? What is it to you if Kim Jong Kook was here? He wasn’t here to see you—it’s none of your business.”

The young man jutted his lower lip out like a spoiled child, upset that his father wouldn’t take his side in disliking Kim Jong Kook. “That man is not good for Noona. I don’t like him. I’m only looking out for her.”

Knowing that this would escalate quickly, Ji Hyo stood up and placed herself strategically between Seong Moon and their father. “Appa, he means well,” she said, trying to keep peace. She walked towards Seong Moon. “Thank you, Seong Moon-ah. You’re always protective of me. But you don’t have to worry about Jong Kook Oppa. He just wants to help.”

“It’s true, then?” Seong Moon asked in a high-pitched tone. Ji Hyo shook her head, telling him she didn’t understand. “You and he are dating again?”

“I was nev—…” she stopped mid-sentence, realizing that Seong Moon didn’t know the true nature of her relationship with Kim Jong Kook. Only her parents knew the truth. Both her younger siblings genuinely thought that they had been together and eventually broken up. “He’s just a friend,” she settled with that.

Seong Moon asked, “So what was he doing here?” at the same time as her father’s teasing.

“A friend who followed your sister’s car in his own all the way from Anyang because he wanted to make sure your Seong Im Noona arrived home safe.” Soo Kyung slapped his thigh and exaggeratedly groaned to himself, “What in the world have I done to deserve stupid children like these two? Thank goodness I still have Seong Min as my last hope.” He then stood up. As he was close to the door, both Seong Moon and Ji Hyo stepped away to give him the way. He smacked both their heads lightly when he passed by them. “Be kind to your sister,” he said to Seong Moon. To Ji Hyo, he said, “Grow up!”

“You went to Anyang?!” Seong Moon asked in disbelief after their father had gone into the house. “To freaking Anyang from here?”

“I didn’t! Well, not exactly,” Ji Hyo sighed, not wanting to have to repeat her explanation. She still ended up telling him what happened. They were sitting side by side by the time Ji Hyo had finished recounting the events at Chang Joo’s. Then, after much contemplation, she said. “Seong Moon-ah… can you do me a favor? Please don’t hate on Jong Kook Oppa. He’s just trying to help me. And… well, you don’t know even half of the story. If anything, it should be him who hates me—us. I dragged him out from his quiet, comfortable life into this chaos.”

He was silent for some time. “You keep saying that.”

“What?”

“That I don’t know anything about the two of you. That it’s you who are to blame. That he’s just trying to help.”

“It’s true.”

“He broke your heart.”

“He didn’t.” She felt a sharp pain in her heart as she said so.

“You cried a lot when you guys broke up—I saw you. I went to your apartment, remember?” Ji Hyo didn’t know what else to say. “Noona, why did you two break up? Everyone can see that you’re still as in love with him as he is with you.”

“I’m not in love with him.” Are you sure? “And he’s clearly not in love with me.”

“Yes, and Kyon U and Jing Nyo are not in love with each other, either.”

“They aren’t even real,” Ji Hyo said. “I can’t believe you just used a children's folktale as a comparison.”

“I can’t believe you’re that blind.” Seong Moon started to leave. “Noona, I’m serious. Talk it over with him—be together if that’s what makes you happy. It’s not like there’s something like the King of Realm that will get angry and separate you two like the one in that story.”

If only you knew, Ji Hyo thought bitterly.

***

The rest of Ji Hyo’s afternoon went like a blur. After the conversation with her brother, she decided to catch up with her much needed sleep. She went into her room and changed into her pajamas, deciding that the comfort of her pajamas was worth getting scolded by her mother.

She was just falling asleep when her phone rang. Ji Hyo tried to ignore it at first, covering her head with her blanket and then with one of her pillows. The gadget kept on ringing loudly, persistently preventing Ji Hyo from losing herself into the land of dreams. She’d finally had it; Ji Hyo jumped from her bed and turned her tote upside down, dumping the content onto her desk, and pressed the ‘reject’ button without looking at the caller ID.

Her finger slipped. And people call me the luckiest woman in Korea, Ji Hyo grumbled, pressing her phone to her ear. “Hello?”

“Finally!” Ha Ha was screaming right into her ear. Ji Hyo cringed and quickly pulled it away from her face. “Yah, Song Ji Hyo! Why were you ignoring my calls?”

“I’m sleeping, Oppa.”

“For two weeks?!”

Ji Hyo rolled her eyes, forgetting that the rapper couldn’t see her. “I mean now.” She heard him talk to someone in the background, telling that person that Song Ji Hyo the Lazy was asleep at this hour. “Oppa, what do you want, really? I’m sleepy.”

“You’re hurting me with your coldness, Ji Hyo-yah. I’m in the area right now—what about we meet up and have some food together?”

It was futile to argue with an overexcited Ha Dong Hoon; all of Ji Hyo’s excuses were countered to the point that she made up unreasonable excuses (which Ha Ha also replied irrationally).

So there she was two hours later, arriving in a famous Indian restaurant near llsan Station. She was wearing an oversized coat over her sweatshirt and jeans, her face was bare of makeup—it was Ha Ha she was meeting anyway. She didn’t have to look nice for him. She entered the crowded place with her head hung low; even though she was wearing a mask, people still tended to recognize her.

“Seong Im-ah!” Ha Ha waved from a table in the corner. He was smart enough not to attract attention by calling her using her stage name. Gwang Soo was with him.

Ji Hyo waved back and walked to the table. As she drew closer, she realized that Ha Ha and Gwang Soo weren’t the only ones sitting at the table. There was another person behind the large pillar near their table.

“Jong Kook Oppa,” Ji Hyo exclaimed in surprise; she thought he’d returned to Anyang.

“Ji Hyo,” Jong Kook greeted, beaming at her. “Hi.”

A/N: What did I say on Sunday about me not posting again soon? Yeah, apparently I felt very low today all of a sudden so I decided to waste my time writing instead of grading my students' papers. You can trust me when I say I have no idea where this story is going. All I know is that I want JK and JH to be together.

Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to all my fellow Spartace lovers around the globe who faithfully update their Instagram accounts with lots of Spartace moments. Your posts are the highlight of my day. Thank you.